Unleashing the Watchdog Protein, McGill University Study

McGill University researchers have unlocked a new door to developing drugs to slow the progression of Parkinson's disease. Collaborating teams led by Dr. Edward A. Fon at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital -The Neuro, and Dr. Kalle Gehring in the Department of Biochemistry at the Faculty of Medicine, have discovered the three-dimensional structure of the protein Parkin. Mutations in Parkin cause a rare hereditary form of Parkinson's disease and are likely to also be involved in more commonly occurring forms of Parkinson's disease.